Students vehemently oppose Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ name on campus building, demand its removal — but have no idea why

Campus Reform's Cabot Phillips visited a Georgia college campus where a petition is circulating to have Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' name removed from one of its buildings.

Except the majority of the students Phillip spoke with — who were completely opposed to keeping Thomas' name on the building — couldn't seem to form a coherent reason as to why.

Phillips approached several students at the Savannah College of Art and Design and asked them, "There's a petition on campus to remove the name of Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court Justice, from a building here. What's your thought on the petition?"

Phillips then asked the students why they would sign such a petition.

What did the students say?

The students offered a variety of answers. Some of the more interesting responses are included below:

• "We should probably just take his name off the building, it's not that big of a deal."
• "I don't think he represents the student body."
• "I ... uh ... hmm. Do you mind if I get back to you?"
• "Hmm."
• "I don't know. I didn't do much research on this. I just saw a Facebook petition on it, that's the extent of it."
• "He's a historical figure, though, uh, so is [Adolf] Hitler."
• "Well, I don't know what he did."
• "This is such a liberal community, and, um, to degrade that in any way is not really the SCAD [Savannah College of Art and Design] way of things."

Anything else?

A couple of students said that they didn't believe someone's accomplishments should be dismissed just because his viewpoints or actions are opposed.

One male student said, "No, I really wouldn't sign that petition ... simply because I feel that even though the student body might have its certain views and values — just because you don't agree with somebody doesn't mean that you shouldn't honor them."

A female student added, "I don't think just because you disagree with someone's politics you should ... dismiss their accomplishments."